Title: Warrior's of Light and Shadow: Chapter 9: Aftermath

Author: Storm Bringer

Rating: PG-13

E-mail: the_storm_bringer@hotmail.com

Author's Notes: Sorry about the long delay on finishing this chapter. I had a case of creative blockage and it took me a while to get over it. Hopefully I’ll be able to finish the next chapter much faster.

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah, yadda, yadda, yadda…

* * * * * *

Dawn. It began with a glow on the horizon, a halo of soft, golden light. The glow grew steadily stronger, heralding the coming of Sol. There was a moment then, just as the radiance seemed brightest and any more would burn the world to ash, when everything seemed to pause. The universe took a breath, waiting.

The sun broke over the horizon in a blinding flash of light. Its rays flashed over the Earth like a golden rain, setting the world ablaze with color. Oceans became sparkling sapphires, forests became gleaming emeralds, and deserts became shimmering topazes. The sight was breathtaking.

Vanik watched the sunrise, a vision of serenity incarnate, with a sense of awe and wonder that he doubted would ever fade no matter how many times he witness such a display. He had watched a sunrise from space many times, from an orbit around many planets, and it was a sight he never got tired of, like a favorite painting or sculpture that somehow managed to capture everything one thought of as beautiful. Once he had seen a binary sunrise. That image still burned inside of his dreams, an undying ember that never lost its warmth.

Along with the sense of awe he felt when beholding the dawning of a new day, Vanik also felt a sharp ache in his heart. He had been married once, to a woman whose beauty made what he was seeing now seem like little more than a child’s crude attempt at drawing a flower. Waking before the night had relinquished its hold on the sky, and standing in her garden to await the dawn had been one of her favorite pastimes, one that Vanik had joined her in on many occasions. If the image of the binary sunrise was an ember that warmed his dreams, than the image he carried with him of his wife was a bonfire that seared his soul.

She was gone now, a victim of the Great War that had shattered their planet. The large warrior closed his eyes and bowed his head, remembering, dreaming, hoping.

The hiss of a door sliding open behind him caused Vanik to raise his head. A brush of slippers on the steel floor told him it was his brother, a fact that was confirmed a moment later when Geail spoke.

"I’m sorry, brother, I did not mean to intrude upon your meditation."

Vanik turned so that he could see his brother and still keep the golden orb rising in the viewscreen in the corner of his eye. Geail looked haggard and gaunt. His too pale skin was stretched over a too thin face that seemed to be perpetually frowning, and his robes draped shoulders that slumped with a great weight. The magic he was working to keep their operation running was taking its toll on the mage. Vanik worried a great deal for his brother’s health, but he knew there was nothing he could do to help.

"You did not trouble me. What is it you need?’

Geail looked past him, to the sunrise. It seemed, then, that for a moment some of the weariness was washed from his body and he stood up a little straighter. When they had been young, the two brother’s had stood together on a hill near their home and watched the sun creep over the horizon whenever they got a chance. They had dreamed the dreams children dream; of distant worlds and great deeds, righteous heroes and despicable villains that would do anything and use anybody to accomplish their nefarious schemes. They, of course, had been the heroes. How innocent they had been then.

"What did you do with them?" asked Geail, returning his attention to his brother.

Vanik didn’t need his brother to specify whom he was speaking of. "Alecto is shackled and she shows no sign of waking up anytime soon. The other two are asleep in their cells. What are you going to do about Alecto?"

Geail rubbed at his tired eyes. "All I can do is try to strengthen the mind block. She must possess an incredible will to have been able to punch a hole in it."

Vanik nodded. "And what of Tisiphone and Megarea? The same thing could happen with them." His tone was even, but he thought that maybe it would be better if they did break free. At least then he could fight like the true warrior he was.

"Yes, I will have to work at strengthening their memory barriers as well. I'll do what I can today and we'll try again tomorrow. We'll send only one this time, though, have her try to flush out the Crystal Bearer. We do not want to tempt fate and risk having all three break free from us at the same time."

Vanik hesitated a moment before suggesting, "I could go in their place."

Shaking his head, Geail said, "You know you don't have the energy needed to recover if something were to go wrong. I would go myself, but my powers are still tied to our world and they fade even as Phokah dies." He paused and he shoulders slumped once more. "No, we are two crippled warriors forced to rely on others to fight our battles." His tone was bitter.

Without saying anything, Vanik turned his back on the rising sun and walked past his brother, heading for the door. He knew Geail was right and it rankled inside of him. There was nothing he could do though, nothing at all.

He paused as he reached the door leading out of the observation deck. Without turning, he asked, "Their names, Alecto, Tisiphone, Megarea, what do they mean? They are not names from our world."

"They are names I stumbled across while studying some of Earth's history. They are the names of three warrior spirits who dealt out justice swiftly and brutally to those they thought deserving of punishment."

"So you believe our cause to be just, then. That these three will be our..." He paused, searching for the right word.

"Executioners, brother," said Geail in a weary voice. "They will be our executioners. Our Furies."

Silence fell over the room like a thick shroud. It was broken only by the soft hiss of a door sliding open and the sound of booted feet fading down the corridor outside.

* * * * * *

Minako lay on a futon in Rei's shrine, staring up at the simple wooden ceiling and trying not to move much. Moving hurt. So did talking, eating, thinking, and...she took a deep breath and felt her ribs groan in protest... yep, breathing hurt too. Closing her eyes, she made an attempt at falling asleep. Sleeping didn't hurt.

Unfortunately, she had slept soundly all last night and late into this afternoon and now, despite a feeling of intense weariness, she just couldn't go back to sleep. Of course, her nap time insomnia might have something to do with the fact that, every time she closed her eyes, the battle of the night before replayed itself in her head with startling clarity. Yeah, that was definitely not something that would ease a person into blissful slumber.

Ignoring the protests of her bruised and burned body, Minako slowly got up off the futon, wavering a moment as her legs debated if they really wanted to support her or if it would be more fun to drop her on her butt. After threatening to shave them with a rusty razor, they finally steadied enough to allow her to shamble out to the living room. There she found her friends lying around in various states of discomfort.

Once she had regained consciousness, Ami had done a marvelous job of attending to everyone's wounds—including her own—and now Rei's living room resembled a hospital common room. Haruka and Michiru were the least beat up, the two of them having arrived after the preliminaries but in time for much of the battle, particularly the portion of the fight where everyone got pounded into the ground. Mamoru had gotten off fairly easily as well, although the imprint of a foot marred his handsome features. Makoto and Rei were a different story.

Together they had a total of three cracked ribs, one broken nose, one dislocated shoulder, multiple lacerations, and an uncountable number of bruises. Each of them had a face that resembled a purple balloon too. Ami had assured them that the swelling would be mostly gone by tomorrow and their bruises would be a bit less noticeable, more of a sickly yellow than a deep purple. Rei was also sporting a set of purple fingerprints on her neck and throat.

Minako rubbed at the purple band around her own throat in sympathy. As for Ami, she was...not here. Minako scanned the room again for her friend and nurse, but still couldn't find her.

"Where's Ami?" she asked in a hoarse voice.

As one, five heads turned to look at her. It was a slow process for some, one accomplished with a careful ease one uses when moving too quickly is guaranteed to bring pain to one portion of the body or another. They had been oblivious to her presence until then, either slumped in a chair brooding on the events of last night or laying on a futon with eyes shut in an attempt to get some rest. Now they regarded her with looks ranging from worried to exasperated.

"What are you doing out of bed?!" demanded Rei, looking annoyed as she stood up and stalked over to where Minako was standing. She moved stiffly, the cuts on her stomach shooting sharp pain through her body if she bent the wrong way. "You shouldn’t be up and about in your condition. If you needed something you should have just called for it."

"I couldn't sleep," answered Minako calmly. "Don’t worry about me, I’m …" Fine was what she wanted to say, but that surely didn’t fit. "I’ll be okay," she said with a wane smile. "But what about Ami? Where is she?"

"She went out to get some more bandages and some antiseptic," stated Haruka, eyeing Minako critically. There was a small glint of respect in her eyes. "She should be back soon."

"If she lives to get back!" exclaimed Minako in a voice that was supposed to be an angry shout, but sounded more like an indignant croak. "She has a concussion! How could you let her go out alone?!"

The blow delivered to Ami's head via Megarea's sword had left a very nasty bump on her head and she was still having a bit of difficulty with things like tying her shoes or standing for more than five minutes at a time. She had claimed it wasn't anything they should be worried about, but Minako didn't need a medical degree to see that she needed to stay on her back for several days. She was spending too much time taking care of the rest of them to properly attend to herself.

"She said she was okay," protested Makoto, looking a little guilty.

"And you believed her?" Mumbling several comments comparing the intelligence of her friends to that of grass, she shambled towards the door. She had pushed her legs to the limit for the moment, though, and, deciding that they had had enough of standing, they gave out beneath her. Rei attempted to catch her, but since her right arm was in a sling, the only thing she managed to accomplish was falling to the floor on top of Minako. The pair groaned loudly as their injuries protested the harsh treatment.

Lying on the ground, hurt, annoyed, and frustrated, Minako could only think of one thing to say. "I want Usagi back!"

* * * * * *

Ranma walked down the street, mentally running through a list of things that she would need to get at the store for dinner tonight. She had told the Tsukinos she could cook, and now they were taking her up on the offer. That was fine with her. She felt she owed them this much and more for being so nice to the sodden girl who had appeared in their house a week ago, trusting her enough to allow her to stay there.

She was alone since Usagi had been given numerous chores to do around the house. The ever-present katana was also absent seeing that she felt it would be awkward to juggle bags of groceries and the sword. She was going to have to fashion some sort of holder so she could carry it on her back or something.

Usagi hadn’t been absent from Ranma’s side since they had met, and now the martial artist felt strangely…lacking. It made no sense to the redhead; she had only know Usagi for a little over a week, but now that she was alone it was as if something small was missing. Of course, it might have been the absence of the sword and not Usagi that was causing the feeling of incompleteness that gnawed at the back of her mind. She hadn’t been away from the blade for an extended period of time either.

Ranma finally decided that the absence of the sword’s familiar weight in her hand was the cause of her discomfort. After all, why would she feel such a way about a girl? It had to be the sword.

As she walked down the street, Ranma's eyes constantly darted around, never resting on one place for too long. It was a habit picked up from her time in Nerima when she had been constantly assaulted by a number of attackers, both known and unknown. She felt a little silly about being so paranoid she was away from all that now, but still... There was always the chance that Ryoga could stumble into the Juuban district, or that one of her fiancées could track her here. Sometimes she saw interesting things she wouldn't have seen otherwise, too.

Like now, for instance. A glance across the street to insure her uneasy mind that their weren't any bike riding Amazons stalking her showed Ranma a girl stumbling along the sidewalk, looking as though she would collapse any moment. What was even more interesting was the fact that Ranma knew her. Sort of.

Stopping so that she could get a better look, Ranma stared across the street at... what had Usagi said her name was? Ami, that was it. She was leaning against a wall now, one hand held against the bandage wrapped around her head, the other encumbered by a large sack. Even from the other side of the street Ranma could tell she was very pale and it didn't seem like she was going to be able to keep from falling much longer.

Ami had a concussion, Ranma was sure. She'd had enough in her life to recognize the symptoms. She also knew that if no one helped the blue haired girl out, she'd probably collapse before she got to wherever it was she was going. And none of the people walking past her were doing more than glancing at her. Damn!

Muttering about how insensitive people were and cursing her own foolishness, Ranma stepped off the sidewalk into the street and started making her way through traffic to the other side.

* * * * * *

Ami leaned heavily against the wall, silently willing the world around her to stop spinning. Her legs felt like jelly and her head was throbbing with a dull pain that seemed to be seeping down into the rest of her body. Bursts of color flashed across her vision, creating a disco like effect when paired with the spinning of the world around her. Moaning softly, she closed her eyes and tried not to throw up.

That didn't help as much as she hoped it would. She couldn't see anything any more, but it still felt as though she was swaying as if she was riding a boat over a choppy sea. The sounds of the city washed over her in an unrecognizable tumult of noise. Distantly she thought she heard the blare of a horn and a slew of expletives that would have made her blush if she’d had enough sense left to recognize them for what they were.

She felt herself sinking towards the ground, felt the bag in her hand slipping out of her grasp. She should have stayed at the shrine and rested.

Suddenly a strong hand grabbed her arm and a vaguely familiar voice said, "Steady now." Using the hand of her unknown savior for support, Ami tried to straighten up, but the hand pushed her firmly downward. "Don't try to stand, just sit down," instructed the voice in a sure tone. "You'll feel better."

Ami did as she was told, resting her back up against the wall. Slowly the lurching feeling faded and the queasiness in her stomach passed. She still felt weak, but now she wasn't going to be sick. Opening her eyes one at a time, she peered out to make sure the world had stopped spinning. It had, but everything still seemed a bit fuzzy.

"Feeling better?"

She started to nod, then thought better of it. "Yes, thank you." Turning her head slowly, she tried to get a look at her savior. "You!" she blurted when she saw the redhead kneeling down next to her.

Ranma grinned, she couldn't help herself. The look of shock and surprise on Ami's face was too precious. "Yep, it's me. The evil Ranma here to save you from yourself." She then grew serious. "What the hell are you doing wandering around with a concussion anyway?"

"Well, uh..." Ami was having trouble organizing her thoughts enough to form a cohesive sentence. The shock of suddenly seeing Usagi’s new friend plus her concussion had done much to addle her mind.

Seeing that Ami wasn't quite up to answering simple questions at the moment, Ranma looked through the bag she had been carrying. Everything inside was quite familiar to the martial artist. "Monsters must’ve beat you guys up pretty bad yesterday," she commented as she looked over an extra large box of Band-Aids. "I'd hate to see what the others look like if you're the one they sent out shopping."

"I volunteered," said Ami sheepishly. It had been foolish for her to go out in her condition. Her fogged mind failed to pick up on the fact that Ranma shouldn’t have known anything about why she was hurt. It just associated Ranma with Usagi, and therefor Ranma with the Senshi.

"Well that was dumb," commented Ranma without sympathy. The fact that she herself had done a number of things equally dumb for reasons that were generally less noble didn’t faze her one bit.

Ami frowned. "That wasn’t a very nice thing to say."

"So you think wandering around Tokyo with a concussion is a smart thing? I thought you were supposed to be the brains of your little group," commented Ranma sarcastically, giving Ami a slightly smug look.

Her frown deepened as she started to grow angry. "Maybe what I did wasn’t very smart, but that doesn’t mean you have to be caustic about it." Ranma blinked as she tried to work out what the word ‘caustic’ meant, but Ami continued. "I realize you don’t like me or the others, but you chose to come over here and help without me asking for assistance. If you don’t want to be around me then leave, but don’t insult me."

Ranma’s first instinct was to become defensive, which would no doubt lead to her throwing more insults since that was what she generally did when she felt things weren’t going her way. She managed to fight down that first reaction, though, and in so doing came to the realization that Ami was right.

Of course, that didn’t mean she was going to apologize.

Staring out across the street, Ranma said, "I can’t leave you alone, you wouldn’t get more than a block before passing out. I guess that means I hold off on the insults."

Ami stared up at Ranma in confusion. She just couldn’t understand why this girl was willing to help a stranger and potential enemy. All she could do was ask, "Why?"

Ranma turned back to the blue-haired girl looking as though she didn’t understand the question. "Huh?"

"Why are you helping me?"

The simple answer of "just because" didn’t seem adequate, but Ranma didn’t have a better one right then so she just shrugged. "Dunno."

Ami stared at the redhead with a look of surprise and confusion. "You don’t know? Do you always go around helping people without a reason?"

Ranma shrugged again. "Yeah, I guess so. It’s the duty of a martial artist to protect others," she said, reciting the words her father had pounded into her head on a daily basis while completely ignoring the duty himself.

"Even your enemies?"

The redhead had to consider that question for a moment. Ryoga was technically an enemy since he was always trying to throttle her, but they had teamed up on a number of occasions and she had helped him out a few times. If it was Ryoga suffering from a concussion, than she would have helped him. Hell, she’d even try to help out Kuno, provided he kept his hands to himself.

Of course, she knew those people, knew they weren’t bad people. A bit stupid, but not really bad. But now she was here helping out Ami, whom she knew little about and that was pretty much all bad. Why bother to help someone who you might one day end up fighting?

Ranma tried to answer that question out loud. "Even if we had fought and it was me who gave you the concussion, I still wouldn’t just leave you somewhere. It wouldn’t be right. I may not like you much, but I don’t think I’d be much of a martial artist if I just left you passed out in the middle of Tokyo. There are too many weirdoes running around out there." She grinned. "I hear there’s a whole group of girls who dress up in skimpy costumes and race across the rooftops at night fighting monsters. Don’t get much weirder than that."

Ami missed Ranma’s humorous little remark. She was too busy staring at her. Ranma was just like Usagi. If she saw you in trouble, she helped out. It was obvious that the redhead hadn’t really taken the time to think her actions over. She had simply seen someone in trouble and gone to help. Ami was sure Ranma was the type of person who stood by her friends no matter what, too. Just like Usagi.

Ami suddenly felt ill. Bile rose in her throat and she closed her eyes and tried to will the sickness away. It faded, but her stomach was feeling queasy again. Guilt gnawed away at the back of her mind and washed over her heart in a great wave.

"You can't stay here forever." Ranma stood up and extended her hand to Ami. "Here, get up."

The idea of standing didn’t appeal to Ami just then. She wanted to stay right where she was until everything was better again. It occurred to her that that could take a very, very long time though, so she took the proffered hand and slowly pulled herself up. Her legs wobbled and she was forced to lean against Ranma’s arm for support.

"Your legs will get stronger if you walk around a little," said Ranma. "You should stay in bed the rest of the day and all of tomorrow, though."

"Yes, you're right. Thank you for your help." She reached for the sack Ranma was holding in the crook of her arm, but the redhead kept it out of her reach. "If you would just return my sack I can be on my way and out of your hair," she said, confused by Ranma's actions.

The martial artist muttered something that Ami didn't quite catch but didn't sound very flattering. Louder, she said, "Didn't I tell ya I wasn't gonna let you wander around Tokyo until you passed out? I'm gonna make sure you get where you're going."

Ami just stared at Ranma, stunned. "You're going to...walk me home?"

The redhead nodded. "Yep." As if to make the escort official, Ranma took Ami's hand and started leading her down the street, heading in the direction Ami had before nearly passing out.

Ami followed along without protest, not that she felt protesting would have done a lot of good. Ranma's grip was very strong and she sensed a great deal of power coiled up in her muscles. Even if she had been completely healthy, Ami doubted she could have done much to stop Ranma from doing whatever she liked. Short of transforming, that was.

Not that she really wanted to stop Ranma from helping her. For some reason that, even with Ranma's explanation, Ami couldn't quite fathom, the martial artist was truly concerned about her well being.

It crossed her mind that maybe Ranma was just using this as an excuse to learn more about her and the others, trying to scout out weaknesses in the enemy. Ami just couldn't see that as being the case, though. Something in Ranma's features, in the way she spoke, told the blue haired girl that Ranma was being sincere. She sensed that Ranma was not all that good at lying.

The two girls walked in silence except when Ami needed to give Ranma directions to the shrine where her friends were waiting. It wasn't that far away, but to Ami it felt like they had to walk clear across Tokyo. She had to stop regularly and wait for the world to stop spinning before she could continue on again, only to stop a minute later because her legs refused to move the way she wanted them to. Once she had to empty her stomach in an alley, something she was profoundly embarrassed about.

Ranma didn't seem to care, though. She took it all in stride, showing patience when Ami had to stop and rest, and making sure that her ward always had an arm to catch herself on when her legs gave way. Without Ranma, Ami knew she wouldn't have made it back to the shrine.

They finally arrived and Ranma had to practically carry Ami up the stairs. She was having problems with depth perception now, and couldn't quite figure out where to put her foot. If she had been in decent condition, Ami might have wondered at the wisdom of bringing Ranma to a place where she was bound to get into a confrontation with the rest of the girls. Unfortunately, the thought never crossed her mind.

The door to the shrine slid open and Ami stumbled in followed closely by Ranma who had a steadying hand on Ami's arm. At first no one really noticed the new arrivals. Minako was laying on the couch looking unhappy and tired as she glared across the room at Haruka and Michiru who were returning the dark look. Rei stood in the middle of the glaring match like a referee and the look on her face revealed that only a supreme amount of will was keeping the priestess’s legendary temper in check. Makoto and Mamoru were sitting together against the far wall trying to look small.

"She’s not fit to be Princess," stated Haruka in a cold voice.

"She was doing fine until the two of you showed up." Minako’s tone was angry, but there was a slight waver in her voice that betrayed the weariness she was feeling.

Michiru spoke and her voice sent a shiver down Ami’s spine. "The ginzuishou did not respond to her call when she fought with us. If she was the true Princess, the Crystal would have responded to her need and defended her."

"It did a fine job of defending her when we tried to steal it from her!"

"A fluke," said Haruka, and it looked like she was going to say more, but Rei interrupted.

"Enough!" Her eyes blazed with an inner fire and her voice held enough heat to melt steel. She stabbed a finger at Haruka and Michiru. "The two of you have caused nothing but trouble since you showed up! You want to pass judgment on a person you don’t know nearly as well as we do and you keep using the same stale argument to justify your belief that Usagi’s not worthy to be the Princess! You weren’t there when she fought Beryl, you weren’t there when she took on the Black Moon family, you don’t know anything about her!" Rei’s words set Haruka and Michiru back on their heels and brought a smug look to Minako’s face. The look was wiped clean away when the priestess turned her fiery gaze on the lounging blonde.

"We all met," she said in a voice that was deceptively calm, "we all talked, we all weighed the evidence, and we all decided to…relieve Usagi of the ginzuishou. Yesterday we got our asses kicked by opponents we outnumbered two to one. I can guarantee you that those three will show up again and I can guarantee you that if we do not all fight together we will lose again. The decision concerning Usagi was made and we will all abide by it."

Rei continued to stare at Minako until the blonde nodded reluctantly, then the priestess let out a slow breath. "Good, now we can…" She trailed off as she spotted Ami standing in the doorway. Relief showed in her features, but it was gone an instant later when she spotted Ranma. All semblance of calm vanished. "What is she doing here?!" she screeched.

All eyes turned to regard the redhead and none of the looks she received were friendly. None of them quite rivaled the open hostility of Rei’s fiery gaze, however. Ranma put on a cocky smile. There was obviously a rift between these girls, one that she might be able to widen if she said the right things.

Before Ranma could say anything, though, Ami explained. "She found me nearly passed out on the street and helped me out." She was speaking quickly, trying to diffuse a potentially violent situation. It was obvious that tempers were running high and Rei had never tried to hide her hatred for Ranma. "If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have made it back here, I would have fallen unconscious in the middle of the street. Ranma didn’t have to help me, but she did anyway."

Looks were exchanged between the others, except for Rei, who never took her eyes off of Ranma. If she had been able to actually burn objects with just her eyes, Ranma would have been nothing more than a pile of ash. She could have been completely ignoring the redhead for all the reaction she received for her efforts.

"Maybe she didn’t have to help you," said Haruka in a cool voice, "but I bet by doing so she hoped to gain your trust and learn our weaknesses. She just saw your plight as an opportunity."

Ranma regarded the tall blonde calmly. "Unlike some other people, I don’t go around lookin’ for people to make friends with so I can turn around a stab them in the back." Everyone winced and a lot of the anger slid from Rei’s features. "And I don’t need to know your weaknesses to beat you," she added, wishing she hadn’t a moment later.

Haruka smiled a slightly wicked smile. Ranma had caused her to miss out on getting the ginzuishou from Usagi and now she had a chance to get back at her. Knocking her teeth out would prove a decent revenge. "You sound awfully sure of yourself."

Ranma knew where this was leading, had been here too many times to count. She was heading for a fight, something she had hoped to avoid by leaving Nerima. Trouble seemed attracted to her, though, and pride—or maybe it was arrogance—would keep her from backing down from the implied challenge.

"There’s no reason not to be. No one here is a match for me. I’m the best."

"I’ll take you on right here!" growled Rei. "I’ll rip that cocky smile right off your face!"

Ranma snorted. "With your arm in a sling?"

The question sobered Rei up. She had forgotten about her injuries. "I’ll heal," she muttered.

"Rei can’t fight, but I can," said Haruka, her smile growing slightly larger. "I’ll show you that it’s not wise to underestimate us."

Ranma tried to find a way out of the challenge without openly backing down, but she could find no escape. She had thrown down the gantlet by declaring that she was the best, and now she had to prove it. Despite the fact that she wanted to avoid fighting and live in peace, the thought of a fight was…exciting. Ranma was surprised to find that she was eager to flex her muscles in combat. After all, wasn’t that what she’d wanted to leave behind.

"Tomorrow," she declared. "After school, at the soccer field."

Haruka nodded. "Tomorrow."

Mamoru watched Ranma turn and begin to leave. This was the first time he had actually seen the girl that had apparently appeared out of nowhere to team up with Usagi, but there was something familiar about her. Her outfit and hairstyle reminded him of the guy he had run into at the fair last night. He had been with Usagi as well. Of course, he had also been taller, had black hair, and, perhaps most importantly, had been male. Maybe they were related.

Ranma paused in the doorway for a moment, and without turning around said, "Better show up as a Senshi. You won’t stand a chance otherwise."

A collective gasp followed Ranma out of the shrine, but she hardly noticed. She was too busy trying to figure out how she’d managed to get herself into such a stupid mess.

* * * * * *

"...and that is how steam will save the world."

Ryoga looked over at the strange old man he was sitting next to on a bench at some high school or another. The man was short with dark hair that seemed to stick out in all directions at once, and glasses that were, if anything, larger than the ones Mousse wore. Ryoga had simply meant to find out where he was and if Ranma or, more importantly, Akane was in the vicinity, but the man had started going on and on about steam, not letting the martial artist get a word in edgewise.

"So?" prompted the man. "What do you think of my theories?"

"Um... There great, er, Professor Steamhead." They were speaking english, a language Ryoga spoke fluently. He was actually fluent in over a dozen languages he had picked up in his travels. Two of them hadn't been spoken on Earth in over fifty thousand years and another had never been spoken anywhere near the place.

"Yep, steam can solve any problem, cure any ailment," exclaimed Steamhead jubilantly.

That caused Ryoga's ears to perk up. "Cure any ailment? Do you think it can cure a curse?"

Steamhead regarded him curiously for a moment, then asked, "What kind of curse?"

"Oh, you know. The kind that turns a person into a pig every time they're splashed with cold water." If he could find a cure here in this strange place, Ranma wouldn't stand a chance against him. When he finally found Ranma, that was.

The odd man considered what Ryoga had said for a moment, then whipped a chalkboard out of nowhere and started scratching various numbers and symbols on it with a piece of chalk while mumbling to himself. Ryoga watched for a moment, but quickly grew bored and turned his attention to his surroundings.

There was a school nearby with a large sign reading "Quagmire High School." That meant he was somewhere named Quagmire, not that that information did him any good. Looking around some more he spotted a pack of ninjas lurking in the shadows around the school, a large robot with the letters RNC written on one arm attempting to incinerate a flying girl with a large T on her chest, another girl with two sets of ears wearing some sort of battle armor and carrying a cannon roughly three times her size, and what he could only assume to be a witch riding a broomstick. Not seeing anything too out of the ordinary, he turned back to Steamhead. The man was just finishing up his calculations.

"Yes..." he said slowly, then more excitedly. "Yes! I can help you! As I said, anything is possible with steam!"

Ryoga's heart thudded in his chest. At long last he had a cure! No longer would he be a freak! When he finally found Akane, rescued her from the villains who had kidnapped her, he'd be able to face her as a man! Now not even Ranma would be able to stand in his way! Tears of happiness streamed down his face as he raised clenched fist to the sky. Things were finally going his way!

"Come right this way," bade Steamhead as he started walking towards the school. "I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy."

Unfortunately, Ryoga being Ryoga, he headed off in the direction opposite the way Steamhead was going. Half an hour later, Ryoga had flattened the robot, beat the crap out of the ninjas, and gotten himself thoroughly lost in a dense forest. That, of course, meant that...

"This is all your fault, Ranma!!" bellowed Ryoga, waving a clenched fist at the sky. "Just you wait! I'll find you and then you'll pay! You'll pay for all the torment you've put me through, and you'll pay for letting Akane be kidnapped! Mark my words, Ranma, you will PAY!!!"